Arkansas Baptist College has selected a scholar nationally known for his commitment to social justice and community service as successor to Fitz Hill, the current president credited with rescuing the historically black college on the verge of bankruptcy when he came on board in January 2006.
Joseph Jones
Joseph L. Jones, currently a visiting professor of political science at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, takes over Sept. 1 as president. Hill, a former Division 1-A college football coach, announced in February he is transitioning to the role of executive director of the Arkansas Baptist College Foundation.
Prior to his position at UAPB, Jones was executive director of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College, a historically black college also in Little Rock affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 2007 “to graduate academically accomplished students, grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better.”
A graduate of Philander Smith, Jones earned a master’s degree and doctorate in political science at Clark-Atlanta University, where he taught before serving three years as an assistant professor at Johnson C. Smith College in Charlotte, N.C. Beth Gladden Coulson, trustee chair at Arkansas Baptist College, said Jones’ experience at four different historically black colleges and universities, “matched with his vision, energy and passion,” will serve Arkansas Baptist College well in its effort to “realize both its historic and current mission.”
Jones pledged to “do all I can to continue the college’s efforts to remain steadfast in its journey becoming recognized as an outstanding institution of higher education.”
Hill vowed “unwavering” support for the next president “as he strives to implement a vision that will continue to equip our students to reach their fullest potential.”
Hill’s decade at the helm of Arkansas Baptist College brought renewal both on campus and the surrounding community, which he helped revitalize through partnerships with community groups including the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas, which relocated its office to one of the first restored buildings on the college campus in August 2007.
Hill also faced struggles including the 2012 shooting death of a student and problems with processing federal Pell Grants in 2014 that put the school in financial straits and jeopardized its accreditation.
Hill announced in February that “God has placed it in my heart that it’s time to serve ABC in a different role” to help reinvigorate the largely inactive fundraising organization of the Arkansas Baptist College Foundation. “Excellent leadership can come in a form of obedient ‘followership,’” Hill said at the time.
Jones was featured as an Arkansas Times Visionary in 2014 for his work as the founder and executive director of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College.
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